Tank apparatus for pneumatic cleaners.



Patented Dec. 21

A. E. TOLIN. TANK APPARATUS FOR PNEUMATIC CLEANERS.

APPLICATION FILED .OCT. T, 1914.

coLuMmA PLANouRAm-x co., wAsHlNa'DN, D. c.

. .TANK .arremete .Fes Paaeueaie .QLEANERS- Grg'inal applcationfledDecember@ To all whom t muy macero.: l

Be it known .that L ALtEafe :113- TeaIN, e.

Citizen ef the United States., aeeidns at .A11--A derson, yin rthecounty iof Madison and State efndana, have lveeted Certain ...11e-W anduseful Improvements-1n Tgank Apparatus 4.for

Pneumatic Cleaners, of Which the followingk .as lSerial No. '804,704 onpneumaticcleaning apparatus, patented the fifth day of January, 1915, asNo. 1,123,426 Ito which reference is made. f

yThe principal objectsof the .present invention are .to provideacleaning-tanker receptacle 4for pneumatic vcleaners which Willautomatically ,maintain therein :a V.suitable quantity of air cleaningliquid Whenproperly connected with ak source of liquidsupply; to provide.a tank apparatus which,

association with a suitable source of 'compression and valve or `valvesfor controlling the same, .Will 'permit .the .thorough cleaning of the.tank of liquid and laccumulated dint lby means .'of'such pressure;.t o

provide, .in combination With air-current generating anddeiectingmeanaitan'k appa-V ratusv vwhich Willai'ord a proper cleaningof 4dir-t laden air ,andy the iushing orcleaning .of vthe tank by merelychanging, by such deflecting means, -tlife direction ofthe air currentfrom said source;` to provide tank apparatus which, in combination Withother suitable elements of a cleaning device, may be `kept inoperativecondition Ifor .cleaning by means largely automatic, and, Where notautomatic, requiring but. little effort on the part vofthe operator,s11ch.as merely turning a'valve;l to provide tank Iapparatus of thecharacter describedbylwhich, in combinationvwith a suitable source ofaircurrent and deflecting means for same, cleaning be .SneeieetiiefLettere. Patent natenteaneee1-, ,191.5-

19.13,.Seria1 No. 804,704. Divided andths application filed October 7,19.14. Serial IIa-865,457.

dene iin .the reame ef lthe building wherein. the ePPerewS-e .installedand thetenk .emp-

tied and ree-:supplied with clean Water `With-y out .stopping orreversing `the air current, and the v tank ,cleaning operation performedWithout materially :interfering With the room-cleaning operation; toprovide means ill-.e tank ef theehareeter deeelibed adapted to preventback HOW, as from a sewer into the tank; and to provide air cleaningtank apparatus adapted to have automatically maintained thereina'constant quantity of air cleaning liquid, i

General objects are to .provide tank apparatus of the'characterdescribed of simple of operation.

.Stillother objects VWill appear hereinafter;

I n the .accompanying drawings, which form apart of thisspeciiication Ihave villustrated a preferred er1 nbodimen-tY,of` the improvements towhich reference has been. made, Figure 1 Vbeing `a side elevation. of. a

construction, compact form, and eiteotive @leaning device eemrlete.including my .imf

valve device cooperating therewith..

is an enlarged vertical longitudinalsection taken medially through thestructure/ of Fig. 1 eXcept thatamodied arrangement ofthe inverted trap19, 21 and 21 from that lof Fig. l .is shown, `onepart thereof beingpositeaed Within the. tenk- .Fs-

e Verteel transverse sectional view .through the .valve mechanism ofFig. 2, as onfthe Vline 3A- 3 thereof ,NF ig. ,4 sasimilar sectionon-the line -fof Fig. 2. i f The ,substantially air and liquid tighttank, containernor reservoir 10 is adapted partially :to Lbe. filledwith a substantially constant quantity o fair-cleaning liquid, such aswater, .the normal liquidlne 12 of which is :maintained at itsproperlelevation Iin by .means ,o fan automaticvalve 13 in opera- Y 12,the valve 13 will open, permitting additional liquid to enter the tankuntil the lnormal liquid line is again reached when the v valve willautomatically close, stopping the supply. yAbove the liquid body 11inthe tank is an air Vspace l.V v

, A discharge pipe -or conduit 19 is-provided having its opening intothe tank, as 19,

' preferably at or close tothe'bottom of the tank, which conduit vmay beentirely within the tank as illustrated in Fig. 2, but which may bepositioned, outside the same, asin Fig. 1. This pipe or conduit 19extends upward to substantially the normal liquid line 12 where a bendis made inthe direction of the-pipe, whence it extends downward, as at21 and may be connected to a waste reser i' Voir or sewer. As shown inthe drawings,I

preferably provide a short, slightly declining or substantiallyhorizontal portion 21 at the top of the inverted trap thusformed, and`suitably in connection with this portion 'l 1 21'I1prov'ide anautomaticvalve device 22,

whichA may comprise a hinged plate as 22", the Valve being adapted toopen when water and dirt are dischargedthrough the conduit Y 19 `and toclose should there be any back How A or pressure from the sewer, thuspreventing sewer contents from entering the receptacle 410. :Suchautomatic valve device, as 22, may,

ofcourse, be positioned elsewherein'thecon duit than as illustrated,andmay be of any otherY suitable't check valve construction.

- cleartfrom Fig. 2, such excess water will flow out-of the tank throughthe valve device 22 arrangement of the outlet provides also forthedischarge of superfiuous' or excess waterjfrom within the tank 10,' for,as is gravitation. Means are thusprovided forV automatically maintaininginthe tank the desired quantity of liquid for theeifecd tive operationof the machine.

' VlVithinthe receptacle V10, and preferably secured to the upper wall`thereof, as by threadingthe same into the boss 41, I provideanaircleaningv discharge nozzle "42- I 1 havingpits hollow interior incommunication with the` vservice pipe 39 through ports of theairfdeflecting valve device shown. FromV a point at or preferablysomewhat belowLthe normal liquid lineV 12, this pipe jor nozzle 42 N isprovided with relativel long `andnarrow longitudinal slots or alircischarge'apertures 42, 1 preferably V- shaped, and preferably open atthe bottom, whereby, among other notable advantages, duringthe dischargeof water from the tank through the conduit 1,9

' solid matter caught'in the aperturesy 42 will be freed-by thegraduallyenlarging walls thereof and carried away.f

The' operation and action of the tanky device thus far specified maywellv be described in connection with ageneral descriptionY of its`associated parts in the preferred and illustrated'form of vpneumaticcleaning deY vice of which it is a part; In this preferred form thesource of air current 23 consistsof a well known type of rotary blowerhaving cooperating vanes carried by spaced Yapart m'andrels 24 and 25,and operated by the band wheel 26,`th 'e belt 27, the pulley 28 and themotor 29, all of these parts being secured upon or in connection with'the tank device 'Y to form a unitaryvstructure. In the variousoperations of providing suction or compression at the nozzle wherecleaning'V of the rooms is being done, or in cleaning the tank, thisAblower may be continuously operated and in one direction.V An air'-deflecting valve is shown 'as' connected to the' tank at the topthereof,'the valve casing 18 and the lvalve element 50 therein beingprovided with a number of coperating ports which may well be'describedgenerally in describing the course of the air current through -the ma-Vchine. Y

The pipe 39 is the service'pipe leading to l i various parts ofthebuilding where cleaning by suction or by blowing is' to be done, -Y t9oVY Y and with which pipe isconnected ,the usual cleaning nozzle atfthe endzof a flexible tube, these usualparts not being vshownby illus-`tration. Assuming that suction is being had at such cleaning nozzle, theair currentflows "i downward through the pipe39, throughrthez port 40 ofthe casingjlS, theport 52 of the Y valve element 50,the port 430iEthecasing y 18, the nozzle 42v and the discharge'V openings 42 thereof,thenceA into the Yvalveport 51 through the port 17 of the valve casing`(see .Fig 4), whence the air current passes into f the hollowgpo-rtion31 of the connection 32 and into the pipe 31, whichpipe 31is theY intakepipe for the AblowerV 23. After passing through the blower or source ofair current 23, the currentis preferablyfcaused to-` pass intoasettlingchamber'33,through the opening 34, which settling chamber'is'adapt- Y i t ed to permit dustlike particles or foreign matter in theair currentv to collect therein, should some dustor foreignmatter escapeinto the blower through the'liquid body 11.`

From thesettling chamber Y33 the current passes into the pipe or conduit36, whence it passesthrough the casing port 38 and the valve port 53(shown in :dotted lines in Fig.

2f), thence through` the 'casing port .54 and.l

into the pipe 55, whence itmay be conveyed tov any suitable point andbedischarged into the open air. Y

v lVhen it is desired to havelcompression at the` cleaning nozzleassociated withv the' servicel pipe 39 the valve handle 65 'is'giveniosV substantially a one-eighth .tu'rnutbfthe left "1 tank when pressureis applied upon the I operative quantity of air cleaning liquid,an-

tank, a .source of air current, meansY for placing said source of aircurrent alternately in suction Vand compression communication withthe-interior of said tank, means adapted-toprovide a discharge of liquidfrom-'said liquid in the tank, and means. for Vautomati 'callyjintroducing liquid into the tankuntil the-normal liquid line thereof is;again reached after such pressure is removed;

5..- In pneumatic cleaning apparatus, the

combination of a tank adapted normally *tok contain an operativequantity of. air clean ing'` liquid, saidV tank having an airspace inthe upper portion thereof, a1service=pipe adapted-to carrydustxladenwair tothe` 'interior ofsaidtank, means for providing suc;

tion in such upper portion, and means for automatically introducingvliquid into said tankuntil the normal liquid liney thereof is reached,the operation of said last mentioned means .being independent of saidsuction providing means, means for applying compression vin the upperportion of said tank, and

means dependentV on such compression forl` discharging the contentsofsaid tank.

6.111 pneumatic cleaning apparatus, the combination of a tank adapted tocontain an.l

operative quantity of air cleaningliquid, a' service pipe,- an airdischarge nozzle in com# miinication with said service. pipe and hav#-ing a'discliarge:`p.ortion thereof below' the liquid 'line' Vof suchoperative quantity of liquid in said tank, a source of suction -in`communication with thev interior of said tank adapted to-cause air toflow through Vsaid service pipe.y and discharge nozzle,kr andthroughliquidin said tank, andfmeans in-I cluding an automatic intakevalve andan automatic outlet valve for automatically` maintaining an operativequantityof liquid l` in said tank during the operation ofthe through.

7 In pneumatic cleaning apparatus, the combination of a tank adapted tocontain an air discharge nozzle having a discharge opening thereinbelow. the normal liquid line' of such operative quantity of liquid in.said tank, a sourceof suction in communication--v with the interior of.said tank adapted toVl cause air to flow through said 'discharge nozzleand through'liquid in said tank,'and means vi for automaticallymaintaining the liquid in said Htank above said discharge thereof andmeans dependent on suchv compression adapted `to provide-a discharge'yfrom the tankof substantially the contents' thereof. 1

machine, saidi` outlet valve being adapted t.o close against the backflow o f liquid theref combination ofa tank adapted .to contain' i anoperative quantity of -air-cleaning liquid, a servicepipe incommunicationrwith the interior of saidtank and Vopening thereinto below.the normal. `liquid line thereof, a source ofair'current, valvemeansvfor controlling theA air-:current from said source whereby 'suctionandcompression may alternately Abehad in saidV tank, a liquid Vdischargepipe connected to saidV tank and opening thereintofclosel t`othe'bottomthereof, said discharge' pipe thence extending up- Ward Vto 'the normalliquidv line`ofA said tank' and .thence 'turning and extending down.ward, formingan inverted tr'ap.'VVA i f -9.v InV 'pneumatic'cleaningjapparatus, the combination of'fatank adapted to contain anoperative A and; .l substantially constant quanf tity of air-cleaningliquid, a service pipe' and a source ofsuctioninfcommunication with theinterior of said tank,"'a discharge pipe connected to vsaid :tank andopening thereinto close` to 'the bottom thereof, said4 dischargev 'pipe'thence extending `i'ip'wardtol the normal liquid line of said tank and'thence Vturning and extending downward,

forming an inverted trap, al check-valve inY said dischargepipe adaptedtorprovide es` cape of liquid vfrom said tank, and means forapplyingcompression in the space above the 4liquid body in said tank: Y

10. In pneumatic cleaningapparatu's, thel combination' of afsubstantially airv tightf and water tight 'ta-nk adapted to be filled'partially withan operative quantity'of Vaircleaning liquid, means forsupii'lyingliquidl to said tank, afloat valve in said tank andassociated with said means, said valvebeing` i adaptedto provide 'anopeningfor liquid to liow Yinto saidetank until predeterminednormal/liquidflinethereofis reached and' then-to close such opening'tostop the flow' of liquidv thereinto, a'service pipe in 4communicationwith the interior of saidy ta-nk- Y and below Vthe"normaliliquidlinetherein, means forv alternately producing suction and? compressionin the spaceabove 'the liquid body in said tank, andV -means "forproviding escape for' liquid f rom'said tank when pres-v liquid line*inf'saidf tanki whereby 'substantial'l'y all-of the liqiiid-in vsaidtankmay be' discharged, through: said pipe, said *pipeA having -adirection upward to `a point sub line inisaidftanmand"thence extendingin."r

I stantially on a plane with the normal liquid y8. In pneumatic cleaning,apparatugfthef such direction that as the liquid in said tank providean opening for liquid in said tank rises above the normal liquid linethereof it to flow therefrom and to close. such opening Will flow bygravitation through said disto prevent a back flow into said tank.

charge pipe, thereby automatically main- ALBERT E. TOLIN. 5 taining saidliquid at substantially its nor- Witnesses: v

' mal liquid line in said tank, said discharge VAUGHN PITTS,

pipe having an automatic valve adapted to SAMUEL E. JOHNSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

